


Snowed In

by Serie11



Series: Femslash February 2018 [11]
Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Post-Canon, Snowed In, The Frozen Wilds Spoilers, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 14:44:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13661148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: Aloy hiked up the slope of the mountain, following the track that Ikrie had already laid. Even then, it was hard going – Aloy didn’t want to think about how difficult this would have been if she’d been out here alone, with the sudden blizzard closing in on them.“We’re not going to make it back to shelter in time!” Ikrie yelled above the roaring of the wind.





	Snowed In

 

Aloy hiked up the slope of the mountain, following the track that Ikrie had already laid. Even then, it was hard going – Aloy didn’t want to think about how difficult this would have been if she’d been out here alone, with the sudden blizzard closing in on them.

“We’re not going to make it back to shelter in time!” Ikrie yelled above the roaring of the wind.

Aloy stepped closer to her so she could see Ikrie through the thick snowflakes. “Then what should we do?”

“I have a snow tent,” Ikrie said, voice firm. “We need to find somewhere to set it up.”

“Okay,” Aloy said, feeling a bit helpless. It wasn’t an emotion that she liked, but she’d never seen a snowstorm like this before. Ikrie had recognised the quickly moving clouds as a type of storm that happened sometimes in Ban-Ur, and had started them back on the trail that would lead to shelter, but they hadn’t moved faster than the storm.

Ikrie started walking again, and Aloy pushed on through the cold. Usually she could deal with the temperatures in the Cut, but the Shield Weaver armour was not made for warmth, and she was pretty much freezing her ass off right now.

Ikrie led them into the scant shelter of a cliff. Aloy had no idea how she’d even seen it in the snowstorm, but she was grateful anyway.

“Try and clear the snow here so the ground is level,” Ikrie instructed. Aloy grabbed a spare bit of metal out of her pack and started scraping away the ground snow, even though it had already frozen, making it harder to scoop away. Aloy worked as quickly as she could as Ikrie unfolded her pack. Aloy half watched in amazement as Ikrie’s pack turned into a tent – a small one, but still a tent regardless.

“This was meant for one person, so it’s going to be a squeeze,” Ikrie said. “But it’s sure better than nothing.”

“I don’t mind squeezing in with you,” Aloy said lightly, trying to lighten the atmosphere. Ikrie laughed.

Ikrie set it up quickly, anchoring the tent against the cliff so at least one side would be protected. Aloy handed her pegs that Ikrie somehow hammered into the ground, and then Aloy bundled herself into the tent.

Ikrie wasn’t joking about it being made for one person – really, Aloy was half sure that it was made for a child, but then again, the tent had fitted on Ikrie’s back. Ikrie squeezed inside and then did the door up, which somewhat muted the raging storm outside.

“It’s just starting to get going,” Ikrie muttered. “We’ll probably be here for a while.”

“Will we be fine?”

Ikrie sighed and wriggled up to lay next to Aloy. Aloy slung an arm over the top of her. They had to conserve body heat, right?

“This tent will keep out all the snow and keep in the heat. And we have water for a day or so. We should be fine, as long as the storm doesn’t last. But since it’s so far south, I doubt it will go on for more than a few hours.”

“Do you usually get storms like this in Ban-Ur?” Aloy asked, amused that Ikrie had called the Cut ‘far south.’

“Sometimes,” Ikrie hummed. “It’s more common in winter, of course. But usually we weather these types of storms a few times a year.”

“There’s snow where I grew up, but rarely storms that meant we couldn’t go outside,” Aloy said. “Although I remember one winter, when I was very young, where we were trapped inside for a few days. I was crazy active as a kid, so staying inside drove me nuts. As soon as the storm blew itself out, I went outside and sledded down the roof of our cabin until Rost woke up.” Aloy huffed out a laugh. “Looking back, it probably wasn’t the smartest thing I could have done, but hey, I didn’t get hurt and I got out some of my cabin fever.”

“Cabin fever,” Ikrie mused. “Sometimes you say such strange phrases. You know, in Ban-Ur, we would call this type of storm a _slitzenkillar._ ”

“And I wouldn’t have known what that was if you didn’t tell me,” Aloy finished for her. Thinking about the ways that the tribes had evolved and grown separate from one another always amazed her. She didn’t know how long ago GAIA had released humans back into the world, but it had been long enough for these differences in languages to appear.

Aloy supposed she had her own language as well – the language of the Old Ones. She shared it with a few who knew the secrets of the past, but who would interact with GAIA once Aloy was gone? Aloy would have to find other people to trust, eventually. With Ikrie in her arms, it didn’t feel like a totally impossible task.

Sighing, she turned her head so that she could bury her nose in Ikrie’s hair. Ikrie always smelled good, even when she’d been fighting and sweating and by all rights shouldn’t. Aloy adjusted them so that they were lying more comfortable against each other. She pulled the headpiece out of her hair and Ikrie threaded a hand through her hair. Aloy hummed under the touch, loving how it felt.

“I suppose there’s nothing we can do but wait, then,” Aloy murmured. “Although, if you wanted… we could pass the time in other ways.” They had to make the best of a bad situation, and Aloy couldn’t have chosen anyone she wanted to get stuck with more than her girlfriend.

Ikrie’s eyes laughed at her in the darkness of the tent. “You always know what to say to make me laugh, Aloy.”

“I’m glad,” Aloy whispered into her hair, her chest growing warm with affection. As Ikrie dragged her down for a kiss, Aloy thought that maybe getting stuck in the snow wasn’t such a bad thing, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Today's prompt was snowed in, which definitely fits Ikrie, doesn't it ;)


End file.
